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The Praetorian
__FORCETOC__ "The idea that he might fail never occurs to him. This isn't because he's stubborn or always believes himself to be in the right. I believe his culture has no notion of failure, so when he does fail, it's all the more devastating." -- Dirge. Once acknowledged as the world's greatest hero, the Praetorian is a visitor from another planet. Born as a Valorian, his alien metabolism gave him amazing powers. Apparently embracing American ideals, he first appeared in the public eye in 1959. For over three decades, the Praetorian maintained his position as the most visible superhero, saving countless lives and averting numerous disasters. After the trial of his arch nemesis, Dirge, the Praetorian disappeared from the public eye for over fourteen years and only recently re-emerged. Distinguishing Characteristics Everett believes in the good of people. He likes football, Scotch, hamburgers, and history. He is overprotective of Savannah. Character Connections Icon Daughter, Icon, AKA Savannah Georgia Smith. Charlotte Wife, Charlotte Smith (Deceased). Powers Flight, Super Strength, Invulnerability (Physical). Strength The Praetorian is one of the strongest individuals on the planet, currently. His upper lifting limit hasn't been established, but he has been seen to struggle with an ocean liner. On many occasions, he has been witnessed to throw tanks and Mack trucks with ease. No one can explain how he actually holds these objects, let alone balance them, yet he frequently does. Flight In the air, The Praetorian is agile and graceful. He can outpace most supersonic vehicles with ease. NORAD has tracked his speed at over 2,000 MPH! Invulnerability The Praetorian has been seen leaving Earth's atmosphere with no protective gear. Radiation doesn't seem to faze him, bullets bounce off him, and he has spent over three hours under 10,000 meters of water before returning to the surface. According to the man himself, the only person tougher than him is his former sidekick, Titan. History F’uz was born into the Valorian colony of Noss. An average Valorian, his life was commonplace until his mother used her family’s influence to secure him a position as a Sentinel of the Royal Guard on Valor Prime. Such a commission would keep the young man comfortable for the rest of his life – it was a ceremonial position, one with few expectations save for proper bearing and a meticulous attention to uniform protocol. It was a position of extreme boredom and F’uz found himself endlessly hoping for some excitement. Excitement came suddenly during his 18th year. It happened with not a bang but a whisper on solar winds. Close to two hundred years prior, a pleasure cruise vessel carrying the 3rd Crown Prince of Valor Prime had been mysteriously lost with all hands aboard. Despite an expensive and exhaustive search, no remains had ever been discovered. Yet a simple distress call, sent over 186 light-years, shed some light on the matter – a freak wormhole had swallowed the cruiser and deposited it on a backwards planet. The natives called it Earth. F’uz jumped at the chance to interject some adventure into his life and volunteered to make the long journey to ascertain the specifics of the crash, as well as recover any technology. A single vessel was placed at his disposal, with the technology to create a stable hyperspace jump point should any Valorian be found. He said brief good-byes and settled in cryo-sleep as the vessel launched towards Earth. Somewhere during the course of the journey, the vessel's fuel cells ruptured and the nano-technology for creating the hyperspace gate damaged. Unaware, F'uz remained in cryo-sleep until the vessel crashed in the United States, in a place called Nebraska. The local year was 1955 A.D. While on Earth, F'uz discovered the ability to break free from the gravity of the planet, as well as an untold strength and durability. He also discovered the damage to the vessel -- it would never function properly again. In two years, F'uz, now going by the American alias Everett Smith, had reclaimed several pieces of Valorian technology; by 1957, he was satisfied that all the nano-tech had been recovered or was inert. Returning to Nebraska and his damaged vessel, he ordered the computer to begin repairs on the jump gate. Despite the machine's processing power, it responded that repairs would take 20+ years. Sending a report to the Valorian Throne, F'uz set out to discover more about the human race. He took a job, learned about the American Dream and hid his abilities. In 1959, while reading //The History of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire//, F'uz heard gunfire and saw three men in a shootout with the police in Omaha. Several innocent bystanders had been trapped between the gunmen and law officers; F'uz sprang into action. He shifted into his Ceremonial Valorian Sentinel Uniform and rushed into the fray. As bullets bounced off his body, F'uz removed the civilians and then returned to remove the gunmen's weapon. Initially shocked, the onlookers burst into applause as the police rounded up the disarmed felons. A local reporter by the name of Jack Roberson rushed toward the man in purple and asked //Time// Magazine's most important question of the 20th Century, "Who are you?" Thinking quickly back to the volume he had just read, F'uz said, "I'm The Praetorian." The next years passed in a blur. F'uz refashioned his uniform into the classic outfit known throughout the world. He met the President of the US and ensured him despite the mask he worn on his face, he was an agent for good. He was deputized and began to patrol the US. In New Mexico, a mysterious woman appeared before him and set him through a series of tests--she called herself Raven. After proving his worth, the two began a friendship, despite F'uz's dislike of magical arts. The next superhero he met was in New Orleans, a psychic detective by the name of Dan Morgan. The two men worked tirelessly to stop other Supers who announced themselves as villains, even to the point of helping the US government begin an agency called The Initiative in 1967, as well as the super-team The Public Trust in 1968. In 1969, Dirge appeared and became the Praetorian's arch-nemesis. The super-villain delighted in the game between the two men--what started as a battle of wits became more and more brutal as Dirge attempted to break the Praetorian's spirit. There were others as well: Origami, who could time any crime to the exact second; Atlas, the first super-strong villain to appear; and Ray, the energy projector. With Raven, Psyche, and the Public Trust, the Praetorian foiled them all. By the 1970s, the super craze of the '60s began to die down. The Initiate had been trained and responded well to most threats, with the Public Trust tackling the big ones. By 1976, Dan and Raven left the team--Dan spent more and more of his time running the Initiative and Raven "retired" to handle the planet's mystic issues. The Praetorian began to retreat to his secret identity, Everett Smith. Always fascinated by Earth's history and especially the Romans, Everett Smith pursued his Doctorate in History at the University of Georgia. It was in 1979 when he met a young Political Science major, Charlotte Duveaux. The two hit it off right away. Charlotte's strength of spirit inspired Everett and she was taken by his fearlessness. Charlotte was the first person Everett told his Valorian name, F'uz. As she couldn't pronounce it, she began to call him Fuzzy. The nickname stuck. As Everett grew closer to Charlotte, he made a major decision and stopped the hyperspace gate repairs, creating the Vault from the pieces. The two graduated the University in 1981 and married a week later, settling in Atlanta, Georgia. By 1986, both had careers: Charlotte worked in City Hall and Fuzzy taught at the local University. Dirge returned after several years of inactivity as Charlotte went into labor and the Praetorian missed his daughter's birth while battling the villain; he finally placed him in prison and rushed to the hospital. Charlotte decided to name the girl after her two maternal grandmothers, Savannah and Georgia; the Praetorian didn't argue. In 1989, the young hero named Titan approached the Praetorian; intrigued, Everett became Titan's mentor. Charlotte figured the time was right and ran for Mayor of Atlanta. She won in 1990 and took the office again in 1994. Life was good but it couldn't last. In October of 1996 Dirge escaped prison. How he discovered Everett's secret identity is unknown to this day, but on November 5th, he forced ten-year-old Savannah to watch as he killed Charlotte in a televised event. Enraged, the Praetorian took to the skies to murder the villain. Titan desperately searched for Dirge and for six days, rushed to stop his mentor. On November 11th, Titan grabbed Dirge and put into prison, physically stopping the Praetorian from killing the villain, who watched dispassionately. Initially, this confrontation caused the split of two men. The Praetorian testified in costume during Dirge's trial and then took off his outfit and disappeared from public life. Broken by the loss of his mentor, Titan carried on in the Praetorian's place. Everett and Savannah moved around the country and spent several years trying to escape the memory of Charlotte's death. During this time, Everett and Raven became closer as friends. Savannah forged the identity of Icon and began to follow in her father's footsteps. Now the Praetorian is back and helps a new generation of heroes find their way. Category:Characters Category:PC Category:Hero